Improvement in sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1;

MW. STEVENS & E. G. KIN'SLEY.

SEWING MACHINE.

N0. 10,994}. Patented May SO, 1854 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2.

M. W. STEVENS & E. G. KINSLEY.

SEWING MACHINE.

N0.10,994. Patented MayBO, 1854;

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

M. W. STEVENS AND E. e. KINsLEY,-oE sToUcnTon, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT m SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0..l0,994 dated May 30, 1854.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, MARTIN W. STEvENs and EDWARD G. KINSLEY, of Stoughton, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful w Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and we do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying draW- ings, forming part of this specification, in whichi Figurelis'a side elevation of a machine constructed according to our invention, parts .of the framing being broken'away to show the working parts. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with the end of the'cylinderin which the shuttle works cut away to show the interior. Fig. 3 is a front view, partly sectional, of a modification of the. feed movement and surrounding parts. Fig. 4 is a side view,

partly sectional, of the devices shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is asection in the line a: w of the socket through which the needle-rod works. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the device for regulating the tension on thethread.

Similar letters of reference-indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. The sewing-machine to which these improvements relate forms the seam in a wellknown manner by passing one thread through the cloth or other material with a needle in a series of loops, and by passing another thread with a shuttle through the said loops to prevent their return through the cloth. Theshuttle and thefeed-motion are arranged to work within a cylinder for the purpose of sewing boot-legs and other articles of circular form which can be placed around the said cylinder.

The first part of our invention has for its object the sewing of the seams which run lengthwise in boot-legs and other articles of cylindrical form; and itconsists in feeding the article to be sewed longitudinally upon the cylinderfor that purpose.

The. second part of our invention relates to the employment of pressure-rollers to hold the material to be sewed in close contact with the feeding-cultivators. Our machine is furnished with two feed-motionsviz., one to feed around and the other to feed along the cylinder; and the same pressure-rollers arranged to run 1n one direction only would not serve to feed in bothdirections. In order to provide for feeding in both directions, the nature of this part of our invention consists in a certain'm'ethod of arranging and applying the rollers, so that'their position may be changed =for feeding in either direction.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The whole of the working parts of the machine are supported by a table, A, (see Figs.

.1 and 2,) from the center of which rises astandard,'B, having an arm, C, which eitendsforward to a considerable length, and has a socket,

MD, at its forward end, forming a guide forthe' needle-radii. Theineedle-rod carries the needle a at its lower end, and receives a vertical rectilinear motion by means of a lever, E, of v the first order,which has its fulcrum on a'pi'n, I

b,..a'bove the arm c, and is moved by a roller at 'itsback end running in'a groove in the face of the driving-wheel G, which is fitted to turn loosely on a fixed axis at the back of the standard B, and receives a constant rotary motion by hand or other means. The spool which supplies the needle with thread is placedupon a spindle, c, at the top of the arm 0. The shuttle works longitudinally in a cylinder or tube, '11, whichis secured to the-under side of the table A, and projects horizontally therefrom under the arm 0 to a distance in front of the needle a, under which it is central. This tube is divided for some distance back from its front end bya vertical central partition, d, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) and onthe left on this partition there is a horizontal shelf, e, extending the said toothed wheel receiving an. intermittent rotary motion from segments of toothed gearing g g on the'face of the driving-wheelG. Thegroove in the face of the driving-wheel causes the needle to make two perforations of the cloth during every, revolution of the wheel Consequently the shuttle requires: to make two movements back and forth during the same time. The shuttle requires to remain stati'onary for a short time after each movement; and in order to give the shuttle the proper movements and rests, theremust be four segments of gearing g g, each one bearing aproper relation tothe toothed wheel J, to cause it to makehalf a-revolution as it gears in passing. One segment will then givethe wheel J thenecessary movement- -via, half a revolution-to drive .the shuttle forward. Then the space between the segments will allow the wheel to remain stationary until ihe next segment-eomes'in gear and gives the wheel another half-revolution to bring the shuttle back;

. While the next space passes the wheel J it is stationary; but as the next Tsegment comes in gear it will commence causing a repetition of the above-described movements. The shuttle Y S has its point at its back end, and hence must "the machine is provided with two feed-motions-one for feeding longitudinally to the cylinder, and the other for feeding transversely to or around the same. The first of these motions is shown'in Figs. 1 and 2, in which K represents the roller by which the material or article is moved, the said roller turning freely on a horizontal axis placed transversely to the cylinder H, within which the roller works close to the right side of the central partition, d, with the upper part of its periphery slightly protruding through" an opening in the top of the cylinder. The material or article is confined to the feed-roller K byone of tworoll ers, L L, which are hung to turn freely on axes h h in cars t t, which are attached below or form-part of a collar, M, which is fitted to slide freely up and down the lower part of the needle-rod guide D. This collar is prevented turning on the cylindrical part of the guide D, to'which it fits, by a screw orpin, j, whose point protrudes through the inside of, the collar into a groove, 1','n1ade longitudinally in the guide. The collar M is forced downward by a spiral spring, N, which surrounds the guide 1) above it, and the roller L is thus made to bear upon the feed-roller K with sufficient force to prevent the possibility of the escape of the material or article'from it, and as the feed-roller turns, the roller Lturns also by reason of the friction of the material on its periphery, allowing the material to movewithout interruption. The feed-roller receives its motion through a series of teeth on. one face, which constitute a gear gearing with a pinion, -k, on a small shaft, Z, one end of which works in a bearing in the front end of the cylinder H, and the other in a hearing at the back of the table A. This shaft Z carries a ratchet-whecl, m, near its back end, through which it receives an intermittent motion at suitable intervals by means substantially similar to those employed in some other sewing- 'machines for actuating the feed-motion, consisting of a lever, O, fitted loosely to the shaft and carrying a pawl, n, which engages with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, the said lever being moved upward to turn the ratchet by another lever, P, which works at right angles to it, the latter lever being operated upon at suitable intervals to work the feed by projecting pieces on the periphery of the driving .wheehand the former lever beingv lIlOVddOWl1- ward to allow its pawl to pass the required distance over the ratchet-wheel by a spring, 0, bearing upon its end.

The other feed-motion 18 shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which P P represent two rings, by

which the material or articleis moved. These rings are fitted to turn freely on the cylinder H, one in front and the other at the back of the needle, and each ring is furnished on the edge which is farthest from the other ring with a series of teeth extending all round, the

- teeth of one of these rings gearing with the pinion k, which has already been described as driving the feeduoller K, and those of the other ring gearing with'a pinion, k, on the same shaft, 1, the said 'pinions having one side of their peripheries protruding through open ings in the side of the cylinder. Between the two rings I P is placed a ring, 9, which fits tightly .to "the cylinder and is prevented from revolving by any suitable means. This ring is perforated with a hole, 1), at the top to allow the needle to pass through. When this feedmotion is used, the collar M is turned to aposition at right angles to that which it occupies when the first-described motion is used, and

to allow of this two grooves have to be made I in the guide'Done for each position of the screw or pin j. of withdrawing the screw or pin; the upper ends ofthe grooves r r are connected by a groove etctending round from one to the other, so that by raising the collar high enough it may be turnedto change the screw or pin from one groove to the other. This may be understood by reference to Fig. 5, which'isasection of the guide taken through the connectinggroove. The position of the collar shown in Figs. 3 and 4 brings the rollers L L-imme'dt ately over the feed-rollers P P, and they act in the' same manner as upon the other feed-roller,

' K. The peripheries of all the rollers should be barred or made rough to. hold the-cloth or material. In consequence of the openings which it is necessary to make near the front end of the cylinder H for the insertion of the shuttle and-the feed-wheel K, we cover-the front part with a cap which slides'over the end. \Vhen the circular feed is used, we only requirea short cap, T, reaching up to the first f eed-rin g; but when the longitudinal or straight feed is used, we employa longer cap, T.

The cylinder or tube H may be made small enough to sew very small articles of circular form, and. when 'made as small as we consider In order to save the trouble of circular form, as in stitching up the sides of boot-legs, we use the first-described,,feedmotion; but in sewing around such articles we use that last described. The last described feed-motion operates in a manner very mate: rially different from any we know of in feeding at right angles to the motion describedby the shuttle in passing through the loop, by which means 'a much better and neater seam can be made than in any other machine. This is owing to the shuttle thread passing transversely through the loop and remaining in the same position while the latter is being drawn tight. I

The device we employ for tightening or regulating the tension of the needle-thread consistsof a thimble ori'cap, R, which, fits to a pivot, q, secured inthe arm (-3, the said pivot being made s'ufliciently elastic by a longitudinal slit, 8, (see-Fig. 6,)";0 prevent the thimble turning without considerable force. A hole,

t, is made throughthe lower part of the pivot below the thimble, and another hole,- u, passes from the top of the thimble through oneside. The thread from the spool passes through the hole t, and from thence through the hole u to the hole in the top of the needle-rod, and may be more or less coiled upon the thimble by turning the latter upon its pivot. When lit-' tle or no coil is given to the thread,the tension is'slight; but as the coil is increased the tension is increased.

Having thus fully describedonr invention, we will proceed to state what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

'1.' When the shuttle and feed-motion are arranged within a cylinder upon or around which the work is placed, so arranging and operating the feed-motion as to move thework longitudinally to the cylinder, substantially as described, in order that longitudinal sea-ms may be made in articles of circular form.

2. Attaching the pressure-rollers L L to a M. W. STEVENS. E. ,G. KINSLEY.

Witnesses:

GEO. A. WELD, BRADFORD KINSLEY. 

